plant room bookcases with grow lights

Plant Room Makeover – Time For A Big Change

My husband just hates when I want to start changing things. But I have a new plant room makeover idea and I just have to go with it.

At my previous home, I had a whole basement plant room, but at this home I just have an extra plant room with shelves and lights. But now it’s time for a big change.

plant shelves in basement room
Reduced size does not mean reduced plants. No way!

So it was time to roll out the wire shelving and put lights on my wooden shelves. For me, this took a lot of planning and deciding how I would arrange everything for the best access to light.

And I also wanted a place for a planting table and my light box lighting system. Perhaps a “filming table” would be nice too? My mind just took off!

bookcases full of plant accessories
These two bookcases are used for containers etc
My post contains #affiliatelinks which earn money if you make a purchase. See my Privacy Policy if you have further questions.

How about splitting these up and getting smaller grow lights to put on each shelf and use them for plants? I think that would look nice.

Grow Lights For Plant Shelves

I searched on Amazon and found some great lights that seem to fit all the sizes and connections that I needed. Here is an affiliate link if you’d like to check them out. Barrina T5 Grow Lights for Indoor Plants, Full Spectrum Grow Light, 2ft 90W

Those grow lights had connections that enabled me to connect each light to another via a small hole drilled (when needed). Eight lights can be connected together but since I only needed four in a sequence, it worked out just right.

bookcase with lights strung for planning
I am a visual person, I had to lay it out first hand.

These grow lights had timers attached on the cord, but I am struggling with settings so far and figuring out the time I would like them to stay on throughout the day.

Once I get the hang of it, things should run smoothly.

unboxed grow lights and timer switch

I had to drill a few holes in my bookcase shelves, but these holes are hidden along the framing. The moveable shelves did not have to be drilled since they has a tiny gap large enough for the wire.

All in all, it turned out alright and I think this will do until I decide on something different. Who knows what I might find on my next Ikea trip!

bookcase shelves with holes drilled

One additional hole was drilled thru the back of the bookcase for the exit cord that goes to my outlet in the room. Voila! Lighted plant shelves.

Lights came with a double-sided tape to attach. I used this at first but, for what ever reason, the lower lights/shelf would not stay attached? I ended up getting some construction adhesive to attach those lower lights (both shelves).

Any idea why it only affected the lowest light bar? Closest to the plugs? Who know?

electric cord coming from rear of bookcase

Air Circulation On Enclosed Bookcase?

After assembling all the lights and shelving, I did feel like there was a limitation to the amount of air circulation that could occur. I decided to run a small fan in addition to partially cutting off the furnace vent for that room.

These Grow Lights do have a small amount of heat generated so I figured, during these winter months, that would be good. But I would also need to plan on watering a little more diligently until I see how quickly my plants dry out.

Plant Room Makeover - Time For A Change - No More Wire Shelves! But Do I Like The Wood Ones?

A Whole Lot of Re-Arranging Going On

I definitely had plants….and all my supplies…all over the living room for a while, but it was worth it after all was said and done.

I even re-potted and made some new cuttings to root for the spring. You can never have too many of any plant, right?

plants strewn all over living room

I tried keeping the shelves in the same distance apart as they had been previously. Plants would just have to fit that spot and, if too tall, graduate out to tabletop or window sill.

pots of cactus waiting for placement

I have so many plants, but yet I am looking forward to the weather warming up so that I can safely go plant shopping and get MORE!

I think I need to go ahead and plant up some small terrariums and I also have quite a few smaller hypertufa pots that will be perfect for these shelves.

Don’t forget saucers under those tufas!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.